Charles Tjatindi
28 August 2008
Windhoek — Turkish President Abdullah Gul has expressed his country's interest in strengthening bilateral relations between his country and Namibia.
Gul made the revelation on the sidelines of the just-ended Africa-Turkey Cooperation Summit, in a brief meeting with Namibia's National Planning Commission (NPC) Director, Peter Katjavivi.
The Turkish president also called for Namibia's support of Turkey's candidature for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the period 2009-2010. Elections for the membership will take place during the forthcoming Session of the United Nations General Assembly due next month. Turkey has not served on this body for over 50 years.
The Africa-Turkey Summit is a new initiative steered by the Turkish government to lay the foundation for broader economic cooperation and partnership development between Turkey and Africa. The maiden hosting of the summit, which recently took place in the Turkish capital of Istanbul, was held under the theme "Solidarity and Partnership for a Common Future".
Katjavivi led a Namibian delegation that included Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lempy Lucas, and Wilfried Emvula - Namibian Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union.
Addressing delegates at the summit, Katjavivi thanked the Turkish government for the initiative, noting that Namibia and the rest of Africa appreciate that country's active role in the work of the United Nations Council for Namibia - a body set up by the UN General Assembly in the 1970s. The United Nations Council advocated for the promotion of freedom and independence of Namibia, breaking ground for future cooperation between Namibia and Turkey. Katjavivi said Africa is blessed with enormous resources, which could be used to fast-track economic growth and sustainable development to improve the quality of lives of its citizens. He, however, added that in the past Africa failed to derive benefits from an abundance of resources, as such benefits too often went outside the continent.
"We need to change that but to do so we need foreign investment and technological support in the area of value addition. In this respect, working through this milestone summit, we hope to be able to mobilise partnerships with Turkish institutions and investors for our mutual benefits," he noted.
The NPC Director also welcomed the establishment of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) in Africa, hailing it as a catalyst for the promotion of trade and investment between Africa and Turkey.
"In the same vein, partnerships on agriculture and rural development, as well as infrastructure which include energy, transport and communication, are of vital importance for Africa's overall development. This is even more so at the current time, when we are faced with soaring prices of energy and food items that are adversely affecting the development of our countries," said Katjavivi.
TIKA's developmental experience dates back to the early 1970s, making Turkey, a major donor country. It has representative offices in a number of countries around the world, which recently included three African countries.
African countries represented by TIKA are Ethiopia, Senegal and Sudan. TIKA aims to become a bridge between Africa and developed countries.
The first Africa-Turkey Summit was attended by heads of state and governments and other senior government representatives. Representatives of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, Arab League, African Development Bank, and ECOWAS also attended the summit.
The summit adopted a declaration and framework for cooperation with nine (9) vocal areas, which amongst others include trade and investments; peace and security; health; culture, tourism and education; infrastructure, energy and transport; and media and information and communication technology.
The summit agreed to hold its meetings every five years, alternating between Africa and Turkey.
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